February 15, 2018

Inside February 15, 2018 .qxp_Layout 1 2/14/18 7:47 PM Page 3
•Sgt. Kyle Cabral, a combat medic with 3rd Battalion, 1st
Security Force Assistance Brigade
In long Afghan war, U.S. Army tries new way to deploy trainers
AS A U.S. Army medic, Sergeant
First Class Jonathan Ortega
admits that when he gets to
Afghanistan, his instinct will be
to help care for any wounded
Afghan troops. It is a feeling he
will have to fight.
Ortega is heading soon to
the 16-year-old war as part of a
new kind of U.S. Army training
brigade specifically created to
mentor Afghan soldiers in the
field and taught to resist taking
over missions, even in the event
of a Taliban attack.
In America’s longest war,
Ortega’s comments carry
echoes of the many trainers
who came before him, who
wrestled with when to intervene
directly, when to stand back and
where to set expectations for
Afghan soldiers who have long
struggled against a Taliban insurgency.
But the U.S. Army is hoping
that Ortega and his more than
800 colleagues are the start of
something new, as members of
the inaugural Security Force Assistance
Brigade, or SFAB,
whose creation aims to institutionalize
and improve the advising
of foreign soldiers that until
now was more ad hoc. Reuters
DAILY HERITAGE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2018
WWW.DAILYHERITAGE.COM.GH
Israel PM Netanyahu defiant in face of bribery allegations
ISRAEL'S PM Benjamin Netanyahu
has hit back after police
said he should be charged over alleged
bribery cases.
He called the allegations "baseless"
and said he was certain the
truth would be revealed.
His government is "stable", he
has insisted, despite criticism from
a key member of his coalition.
A police statement on Tuesday
said there was enough evidence to
indict him for bribery, fraud and
breach of trust in two separate
cases.
The attorney general's office
could take months to decide if Mr
Netanyahu should face charges.
Israel's dilemma over 'magician'
Netanyahu's future
The 68-year-old is in his second
stint as prime minister, and has
served in the role for a total of 12
years.
Benjamin Netanyahu gave a defiant
rebuttal of the allegations in
a statement broadcast on Israeli
television on Tuesday evening.
"Over the years, I have been
the subject of at least 15 inquiries
and investigations," he said.
"Some have ended with thunderous
police recommendations
like those of tonight. All of those
attempts resulted in nothing, and
this time again they will come to
nothing."
At an event in Tel Aviv on
Wednesday, he repeated his insistence
that he would not be resigning.
BBC
World news in 4 stories
• Arnon Milchan (centre) with Leonardo DiCaprio and Steven Spielberg
South African Police raid
Gupta home, ANC to sack
Zuma via parl
THE ANC on Wednesday
unveiled plans to
sack South African
President Jacob Zuma
via a parliamentary
no-confidence vote,
hours after armed police raided the
luxury home of his friends the
Gupta brothers, investigating corruption
allegations.
The raid marked a dramatic escalation
in the pressure on Zuma and
the political faction around him accused
of milking state resources for
their own ends. Zuma, 75, denies
any wrongdoing and it remains unclear
whether he will throw in the
towel or dig in deeper.
However, with the ruling African
National Congress (ANC) backing
an opposition-led no-confidence
motion likely to be heard on Thursday,
Zuma appears to have run out
of road after nine years in office
dogged by scandal and economic
stagnation.
ANC chief whip Jackson
Mthembu said Deputy President
Cyril Ramaphosa, whose election as
head of the ANC in December
marked the beginning of the end of
Zuma’s tenure, could be sworn in as
head of state as early as Friday.
“After we have voted for the removal
of the President of the Republic
tomorrow - and depending
on the availability of the Chief Justice
- we will also elect a new president,”
Mthembu told a news
conference in Cape Town. Reuters
•Plice raid the home of the Gupta family, friends of President Jacob Zuma, in Johannesburg, South Africa
•Mr Sakya was a tenant of the boy's parents
India man held over
body-in-suitcase murder
POLICE IN India's capital,
Delhi, have arrested a man for
allegedly killing a seven-yearold
boy whose body he hid in
a suitcase for 37 days.
Police found the body on
Tuesday in Avidesh Sakya's
home after neighbours complained
of foul smell.
Officials said Mr Sakya
kidnapped the boy for ransom
but killed him to cover up the
crime.
Mr Sakya, 27, had been
renting the house from the
boy's parents for the past
eight years.
The boy, Ashish Saini, had
been missing since 7 January.
Police told the Times of
India newspaper that Mr
Sakya had allegedly admitted
to kidnapping the boy on the
pretext of buying him a bicycle.
But he panicked and killed
him when the police launched
a manhunt.
When neighbours enquired
about the smell, he reportedly
told them it was because of
dead rats and even showed
them one.
But the police became suspicious
when Mr Sakya
stopped answering their
phone calls, prompting them
to search his house.
The boy's father, Karan
Saini, said he was shocked because
Mr Sakya had helped
him in the search for his son.
BBC